


ecce gigantes gemunt sub aquis et qui habitant cum eis

by becauseitwasreal



Category: Pirates of the Caribbean (Movies)
Genre: Angst, M/M, Movie: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Non-Graphic Violence, and a lot sad, this is a bit gay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-02
Updated: 2017-06-02
Packaged: 2018-11-08 05:22:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11074911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/becauseitwasreal/pseuds/becauseitwasreal
Summary: It seemed like it had been years since they had last heard another ship beating steadily against the current. Salazar knew better. He had counted the days since that accursed Sparrow had trapped him and his crew in the fires of hell. Eighty-six. Eighty-six days of death, and someone had to pay.





	ecce gigantes gemunt sub aquis et qui habitant cum eis

**Author's Note:**

> I (unfortunately) own nothing. Translations at the end!

It seemed like it had been years since they had last heard another ship beating steadily against the current. Salazar knew better. He had counted the days since that accursed Sparrow had trapped him and his crew in the fires of hell. His life’s blood dripped from his lips, and he wondered if he would ever run out. If that would be the day it would finally be over. Eighty-six. Eighty-six days of death, and someone had to pay.

But it was not the _Wench_. That ship had been etched in his memory, as was the boy who had captained it. It filled him with the fire the sea had shot through him. She had taken his life and filled his dead body with rage. He had known he could be ruthless, be cruel, but not like this – not like the burning desire to snap the boy’s neck in two, to drive a sword straight through his heart.

It was Officer Santos who first appeared at his side. Even his dead features were still able to show his fear. “What do we do, _Capitán_?”

 _What are you afraid of?_ Salazar wanted to ask. It is not as if their fate could become any worse. The nameless ship would crash against the rocks, and Sparrow would still be out there, bathing in the sunlight while he and his crew suffered.  

“They’ll hit the rocks, just like we did. They’ll die.”

Salazar looked into Santos’s forceful, pleading eyes, and realised it was not for himself the young officer feared. “ _Hundir el barco_.”

“But –”

“That’s an order, Santos. Sink the ship.”

“ _Como desées_.”

Salazar closed his eyes, and heard the ship come back to life around him. The remnants of the sails were raised, and just for a moment he allowed himself to imagine that nothing had changed. The shouts while they were preparing for attack were just like before the Triangle, just like the last time the _Silent Mary_ pursued a pirate ship. He would stand proudly amidst his crew, his heart beating from adrenaline – but the beat was not there. His heart was as dead as the rest of his body, his lungs filled with water and his hands unable to feel, to touch.   

Someone had to pay.

“Aim for the main deck. We’ll overtake her,” he told Lesaro. The man hardly left the helm, even though they had nowhere to go anymore. They’d found out fast enough that they weren’t to leave the Triangle again. That maybe they never would.

“ _Capitán_ , this is not a pirate ship.” His one remaining eye focused sharply on Salazar. “They sail under the flag of the French navy.”

“I know.”

The lieutenant knitted his brow, but didn’t comment.

“Do you have something to say to me, Lesaro? Do you doubt my command?” The words came out sharper than he intended.  

“ _Nunca_ ,” the man said, but the doubt was clear in his eyes.

It stung more than it was supposed to. He wasn’t supposed to feel anything like this – hadn’t felt anything like this since the moment he had drowned. His lieutenant had never doubted him – would have followed him to the end of the world if he asked him to. He set his jaw, and felt the fire stir within him. Someone had to pay.  

The bow of the _Silent Mary_ collided with the other ship’s deck, the Triangle filled with the echo of splintering wood. There was no fire, not this time. There was only silence, and the smell of death.

One of the Frenchmen began to shout. “ _Dieu! Dieu! Aidez-nous! Sauvez-nous!_ ”

The _Silent Mary_ didn’t change its course. There were no survivors, and Salazar retreated to his cabin. When his ship had sunken, the sea had become part of it, sinking into its deck and its sails. His _Mary_ now mirrored the remnants of the decaying bodies of each who gazed upon it, distorting their grey features even further. It was a cruel reminder of their fate, and Salazar often found him wondering what they had done to deserve this punishment. His cabin was one of the few places on the ship where he could avoid his own reflection. Here there were no windows, and no light to show him his face. They had run out of candles weeks ago, but it didn’t matter – there was nothing to see, and they didn’t feel the warmth. Salazar was shaken from his thoughts by a cautious knock. “ _Entre_.”

Lesaro lingered in the doorway, seemingly unsure on how to approach his captain. “Armando.”

Salazar didn’t answer, but nodded for the lieutenant to come in.

“You shouldn’t sit here in the dark. It won’t help.”

“Nothing will help. Not until I kill the Sparrow.”

Lesaro raised one eyebrow. “Sparrow was not on that ship. The men on that ship were innocent.”

“We were innocent. Someone needed to pay.” He clenched his fists.

The lieutenant covered Salazar’s hand with his own.

He didn’t feel it. He could imagine the weight, the sensation of his hardened fingers, but he could not feel the touch. He knew it should make him angry – he knew that from the burning rage that constricted itself in his throat, from the sharp pain in his sides – but instead he found himself relaxing at the other man’s touch. “I’ve never shown mercy."

“I know. I understand your anger. Do not think I don’t feel it too. Every man on this ship feels it.”

“Santos doesn’t.”

Lesaro shook his head. “He does. He may fear his feelings, but he does.” The lieutenant pursed his lips together. “You should see them upstairs, feasting like beasts over a meaningless victory.”

“We need something to hold on to.”

“Not this. We need to be better than this. Better than this curse. Even if we do not feel it.” Lesaro brought his hand up to Salazar’s cheek, running his fingers down the cracks and wiping away the dark blood that coated his chin.

For a wonderful moment it felt as if he could breathe again. As if the heart that stopped beating had found its rhythm, as if he was alive. “Fernándo,” he whispered. Then his breath left him again, and he was pulled back into the darkness.

“We need to be better.”

A hand in his hair, stroking it back as if it was as beautiful as it once was, as if the sea hadn’t claimed it for herself. He almost believed the words.

“If not for ourselves, then for our country. For our God.”

Salazar pulled back, and closed his eyes. “ _No hay dioses en este lugar_.”

**Author's Note:**

> I gave Lesaro the first name Fernándo, meaning ‘ardent for peace.’
> 
> Title taken from Job 26:5  
> ecce gigantes gemunt sub aquis et qui habitant cum eis (Latin Vulgate) = the dead are in deep anguish, those beneath the waters and all that live in them (The New International Version) 
> 
> Translations (thanks to Google Translate & the Bible)  
> Hundir el barco = Sink the boat  
> Como desées = As you wish  
> Nunca = Never  
> Dieu! Dieu! Aidez-nous! Sauvez-nous! = God! God! Help us! Save us!  
> No hay dioses en este lugar = There are no gods in this place


End file.
